Criminal Minds (TV Series) The Perfect Storm (2006) User Reviews

Nicki Aycox blew me away, episode show be renamed "The Perfect Switch"

[theronman2001 · 8/10 · 13 January 2007]

As usual, the gruesomeness of the crimes was presented in an excellent manner. It drew me in & put my mind into the core of the case. When she first appeared, my thoughts of Nicki Aycox were, "man, she is smokin' hot". No big deal, that happens nearly every night. Because of her performance, who could not have felt empathy for the victimized & abused Amber? As the complexity of Amber's persona evolved, an escapist could easily believe that Nicki herself was the devil incarnate. If I may speak for personal experience? My ex-wife was diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). During Amber's final scene with Gideon, Nicki pulled off the perfect "switch'* in mid dialogue. It was eerily compelling. Right out of the textbook. Frankly, I cannot recall a more realistic performance on TV, ever.

As soon as the show ended, I was searching Nicki's filmography. Much to my surprise, I discovered that I had seen Nicki many many times. The more I learned of her career & found photos of her, it soon became apparent that Nicki Aycox is as good a character actress as there is. The diversity of her roles & broad spectrum of looks in her filmography is amazing. I am now her biggest fan!

* switch, I was told by doctors, is the term used when a person with MDP morphs from one persona to another

Intriguing episode but something missing

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 5 February 2017]

'Criminal Minds' is one of my most watched and re-watched shows, and apart from the odd bump (the only average at best episode of the season being "Honor Among Thieves") Season 2 is a solid one with some great episodes.

"The Perfect Storm" is not one of those great episodes (not like the likes of "The Fisher King Part II", "Revelations", "Profiler, Profiled", "North Mammon" and "The Boogeyman", but it's still an intriguing and good one. Admittedly it's predictable at times, parts are somewhat too pat and melodramatic and one does wish that there were more of the innovative investigation techniques brought to the forefront because there wasn't quite enough of those here.

However, "The Perfect Storm" does have some tension and suspense, especially after the truly shocking and completely unforeseen final revelation and the climax which sees the unsub at their creepiest, and the team dynamic is still adorable and charming and the characters well-established. The murders and modus operandi themselves are pretty freaky too.

Visually, "The Perfect Storm" is still very stylish and atmospheric, the music haunting and melancholic and the direction taut but also accommodating. The script is not exceptional but still provokes thought.

Acting is all strong, all the regular team members turn in great work, am not a fan of Lola Glaudini or the character of Elle but neither are issues here. It is agreed that Nicki Aycox absolutely nails it here, especially as the character is given more dramatic meat and becomes more unpredictable.

Overall, intriguing if also slightly bland. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Great plot twist

[lottiemarshalllm · 8/10 · 6 August 2020]

Disclaimer:I am no expert reviewer, I just need a show to binge watch and I'm going to Write a review for every episode I watch.

Sometimes when I watch episodes I think that they throw in a plot twist just to make the episode more interesting and it doesn't really work out in the end but this episode was done very well and pulled off the plot twist excellently.

I thought the plot was intriguing and thoughtful and had just enough twists and turns to keep me interested and surprised but not enough that it seemed improbable.

I like to getting to see Gideon and hotch get into the mind of Tony both using their skills to break Tony down. I thought the whole team worked together very well to catch the kidnappers.

Would've given a 10 out of 10 but was a little bit lacking in showing off some of the other characters profiling abilities but overall very good.

wow

[malakzakaryaeg · 9/10 · 17 April 2023]

MAN THAT WAS AMAZING. What i love about that show ok no wait let me say fiest why u started watching criminal minds i starlets watching criminal minds bc of how interesting i find thier work and like how they can figure out. A persons brain but just thuer tracks or how they commit a crime or even how they talk too it's so interesting and it's also my dream job i live that show for its characters or even it by itself i find this show one of the best shows even in my opinion you can learn a lot from it and whne i say a lot i mean ALOT but anyway i love this show wow also what i also love is each episode is a different crime which i find far more entertaining than maybe like a whole season to solve one crime i like tjis much beter ALSO before i forget i love that almost 80% of the crimes are different like none are the same each time it's a different one i love criminal minds.